Fresh from the Cultural Youth Lab . . .

Who would have thunk it? A nation-wide distributed product is manufactured right here in the heart of the East Williamsburg Industrial Zone. Located across the street from the Boars Head distributor is none other than Golden Stitches (the people who make the uniforms for Boars Head factory workers all over the country). Golden Stitches contains the most amazing array of embroidered designs. Some of their works include a design for the 2000 Subway Series (Yankees vs. Mets), a creative new Looney Tunes design, and the most memorable one, which just so happens to be the Golden Stitches very own logo. Above the store front door hangs a half naked young lady, while on the contrary, inside, handling the machines, works a group of much older women and the owner (a guy!). The atmosphere of the place is just as interesting, for the fact that the owner, Golden Joe, literally lives in a self built apartment above the factory. Wow!

On July 10, we all took a trip over to the manufacturer to ask for their input on our culture map. But to our surprise no one knew how to sew! Being that they are so used to using the machine, they had no reason to learn how to hand stitch. But no fear the Culture Mappers are here and we are skilled in the art of sewing stars and hearts on a bed sheet in the shape of Bushwick! LOL

All jokes aside, they’re a great group of people and together we are currently working on Bushwick’s new peace slogan: “Less Guns, More Pizza”. Can’t wait to see how that campaign works out!

I was always told as a child to stay away from the old factory buildings and to stick to the main streets. But on July 10th I broke the rules. Oh yeah! Along with Adriana and the crew, we set off to explore the land known as the heart of gentrification. Of course since it was my first time out and about in these neck of the woods, Adriana thought it would be fun to let us fend for ourselves. So after helping us set up our culture map on an empty bench outside of Café Orwell, she stepped back and let us handle the show. Boy did we meet some interesting people! When asked the final question on our survey, who do you think you are, Leilanie replied with “I’m a star” and Jessica “I’m either a flying fish or a human disco ball.” Café Orwell is no doubt an interesting place to get opinions from people who live in the most gentrified areas as opposed to the usual people we speak with who lived here before the gentrification process started. It’s always good to hear both sides of the story. Café Orwell caught our eyes because of its numerous freelancers typing away at their computers. We had the chance to speak with one of them; a web designer who said that Café Orwell and many other café type places are where he calls work. So if you’ve never seen how the factories have been remodeled, head down to Bogart and Montrose to see what all the buzz is about!

Who ever said California has the best burritos obviously never took a stroll down Bushwick Avenue. I’m currently fresh off the plane from San Francisco, a place well known for their abnormally large burritos. But as I sat in the corner of some Mexican restaurant in the Mission District, I realized how much I missed Los Arcos. Los Arcos is to blame for taking my burrito virginity. Before I would have never thought to eat a burrito (because they look repulsive), but along came Los Arcos to change my mind. Their classic Los Arcos burritos are packed with rice, black beans, sour cream, veggies, and your choice of meat. But Los Arcos isn’t just a great place to grab a bite after school, it is also a safe place to go. And how do I know this? Here’s the story: sometime during the beginning of the school year Genesis and I were hanging out with some of our friends when someone started problems with one of us. To avoid conflict we went into Los Arcos and the kind manager scared the troublemakers by threatening to call the cops. Never mess with a business lady!

Who would’ve known that for the past nineteen months Roberta’s has been called home by the local hipsters? Located on Bogart and Moore, Roberta’s is definitely a unique pizza spot. Not only does it offer a wide variety of pizza selection, such as the “Specken Wolf” (not actually made with wolf), the atmosphere is different from that of your regular pizza shop. At first glance, you wouldn’t even know that it’s there, with the exception of the small sign above the door and the randomly place ATM machine. But the mood changes as you walk inside. The first room has the feel of a summer cabin. The next room located outside looked more like an empty lot, complete with a run down car decorated with festive flowers. But what really sets Roberta’s apart is the fact that they have made it so that in such an urban environment it is still possible for their customers to know exactly where the food on their plates is coming from. After speaking with co-founder Gabe, we learned that atop the Evergreen container boxes, you can find a garden of fresh vegetables and herbs. No wonder that “Specken Wolf” was so zesty!

Save The Pizza, Save The World

Pizza thoughts in general7/29/09
Save the pizza, save the world. What would this city be without pizza? Pizza is as much a part of this city as our lady liberty herself. New York is known for her amazing talents in putting dough, sauce and cheese together. But there’s a question involved in this; what can pizza do to change our society? Pizza is more than just a comfort food; pizzerias can seriously be considered community centers. It’s the only other place besides the subway where whole communities can come together to enjoy a universally known happiness. For this reason Adriana has created the most brilliant peace slogan for Bushwick: “Less Guns, More Pizza.” Now who’s going to disagree with that? You all must be wondering how this all came about, but there is a heart-felt explanation for all of this.

Once upon a time on a beautiful day in Bushwick, Adriana went out to the park and set up her culture map on a table. Along came a group of young boys who asked oh so politely, “Yo what is this miz?” Adriana responded, “It’s a culture map, would you like to embroider onto it.” The one to the left responds, “I don’t know how to do that.” After a few moments the boys were stitching up a storm and that’s when Adriana asked, “What would you like to see less of in your neighborhood?” The boys uniformly answered, “violence” and at the same time they agreed that they were hungry. At that moment the magical light bulb sparked in Adriana’s pretty little head and she realized exactly what Bushwick needed, “Less Guns, More Pizza.”

So what are we doing to make this true? Well we advise you head on over to your closest pizzeria and share a pie with a group strangers because don’t forget a stranger’s just a friend waiting to happen.